Meanings
plural subtractions · alternative obsolete substraction
- countablearithmeticA calculation involving subtracting.
The teacher has set us ten subtractions to do by tomorrow.
- countableuncountableThe removal of something.
The subtraction of the wealth from the economy will result in recession.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan arithmetic operation in which the difference between two numbers is calculated
nounthe act of subtracting (removing a part from the whole)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinsubtractio, subtractionis
- Englishsubtraction
Borrowed from Late Latin subtractio, subtractionis. Can be decomposed to subtract + -ion.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀφαίρεσις, ἀφαίρεσις
- ἀφαίρεσις (aphaíresis)process
- ἀφαίρεσις (aphaíresis)calculation
Arabic طَرْح
- طَرْح (ṭarḥ)process
Basque kenketa
- kenketaprocess
Bengali বিয়োগ
- বিয়োগ (biẏōg)process
Bulgarian изва́ждане, изваждане
- изва́ждане (izváždane)process
- изваждане (izvaždane)calculation
Catalan sostracció, resta
- sostraccióprocess
- restaprocess
- subtraccióprocess
- subtracciócalculation
Chinese Mandarin 減法 /减法
- 減法 /减法 (jiǎnfǎ)process
Czech odčítání
- odčítáníprocess
Danish subtraktion
- subtraktionprocess
Dutch aftrekken, aftrekking
- aftrekkenprocess
- aftrekkingcalculation
Esperanto subtraho, subtraho
- subtrahoprocess
- subtrahocalculation
Estonian lahutamine
- lahutamineprocess
Finnish vähentäminen, vähennys
- vähentäminenprocess
- vähennyscalculation
French soustraction
- soustractionprocess
German Subtraktion, Abziehen
- Subtraktionprocess
- Abziehenprocess
- Abziehungprocess
- Subtrahierungprocess
- Subtrahierenprocess
- Abzugprocess
Greek αφαίρεση, αφαίρεση
- αφαίρεση (afaíresi)process
- αφαίρεση (afaíresi)calculation
Hindi घटाना
- घटाना (ghaṭānā)process
Hungarian kivonás, kivonás
- kivonásprocess
- kivonáscalculation
Icelandic frádráttur
- frádrátturprocess
Indonesian pengurangan
- penguranganprocess
Italian sottrazione, sottrazione
- sottrazioneprocess
- sottrazionecalculation
Japanese 引き算, 減法
- 引き算 (hikizan)process
- 減法 (genpō)process
- 引き算 (hikizan)calculation
- 減算 (gensan)calculation
- 減法 (genpō)calculation
Korean 뺄셈, 빼기
- 뺄셈 (ppaelsem)process
- 빼기 (ppaegi)process
- 감법 (gambeop)process
- 뺄셈 (ppaelsem)calculation
Latin subtractiō, subtractiō
- subtractiōprocess
- subtractiōcalculation
Latvian atņemšana
- atņemšanaprocess
Lithuanian atimtis
- atimtisprocess
Malay penolakan
- penolakanprocess
Māori tangohanga
- tangohangacalculation
Norwegian Bokmål subtraksjon, subtraksjon
- subtraksjonprocess
- subtraksjoncalculation
Persian تفریق
- تفریق (tafriq)process
Polish odejmowanie, odejmowanie
- odejmowanieprocess
- odejmowaniecalculation
Portuguese subtração, subtração
- subtraçãoprocess
- subtraçãocalculation
Romanian scădere
- scădereprocess
Russian вычита́ние, вычита́ние
- вычита́ние (vyčitánije)process
- вычита́ние (vyčitánije)calculation
Slovak odčítanie
- odčítanieprocess
Spanish resta, sustracción
- restaprocess
- sustracciónprocess
- substracciónprocess
Swedish subtraktion
- subtraktionprocess
Tagalog palabawasan, palabawasan
- palabawasanprocess
- palabawasancalculation
Tamil கழித்தல்
- கழித்தல் (kaḻittal)process
Turkish çıkarma, çıkarma işlemi
- çıkarmaprocess
- çıkarma işlemiprocess
- çıkarma işlemicalculation
Ukrainian відніма́ння, відніма́ння
- відніма́ння (vidnimánnja)process
- відніма́ння (vidnimánnja)calculation
Urdu تفریق
- تفریق (tafrīq)process
Vietnamese phép trừ
- phép trừprocess
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with subtraction
Cite this entry
subtraction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subtraction
“subtraction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subtraction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “subtraction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subtraction.
Source: subtraction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.